The Slower Daisies
by TheMonarchyOfRoses
Summary: Sodapop sits with the mentally challanged kids at lunch, and ends up learning more than he ever thought he would...


Usually finding a place to sit at lunch wasn't something I've ever had to deal with since me, Steve, and Two-Bit usually hung out together, but that wasn't the case today since they skipped the whole day. Since all three of us were greasers we got along perfectly. But I guess I'm alone today.

I had a sandwich from home and a Coke with me. I set them and myself down at a table with only one abandoned lunch tray. The person didn't eat yet and wasn't a lot on there, so I was pretty sure he wasn't a Soc.

But I learned he wasn't a Soc or a greaser.

I saw a kid who was about my age who was smiling and making noises at nothing, looking down at his hands. A young looking guy was guiding him to sit in the chair. Soon another pair joined.

It was obvious that these were the mentally challenged kids. A lot of the kids that went here called them tards while their assistants or whatever they're supposed to be called are called wranglers. I gingerly asked: "Is it okay if I sit here?"

The first guy said sure. I tried not to make eye contact with the kids so I wouldn't startle them or something like that. I really don't know how they work, so I'm just tryin' to be safe. I'm about as dumb as them.

This was beyond awkward for me. It's not like I _dislike_ the kids, heck, they can't help it, but what am I supposed to say or even do? I don't wanna talk all baby-like and hurt their feelings, but would they even notice? Okay, I'm dumber than them.

I took a peek at the kids. The first one was laughing, smiling, and making weird noises. The other one was silent, playing with his fries. He was putting them in some pattern, and his face looked like the world depended on it. He also had a dying daisy with him behind his ear.

I looked down only at my lunch. I made sure to eat as slowly as possible so I could have an excuse for not talking. But that didn't mean I wasn't listening. The one wrangler asked why he had the daisy only to get no reply. He stopped talking to him and went to the other wrangler. I was eavesdropping when I heard them say:

"Where you from?" The earlier one asked.

"Dallas, Pennsylvania. You?"

"New York City. How's the job going for you?"

"I honestly hate it."

That's real nice. Who would take up that kind of job and have that attitude? I'm no job expert but I know damn well you shouldn't ever say that. What was worse was they said it in front of their kids. They just took advantage of the fact that they don't know better.

"Yeah, I hear you. I can't stay here. I'm thinking of going back to school."

"What are you going to take?"

"Clinical psychology."

"That's a lot of school. And a lot of money."

"I know."

Their conversation was cut short when the bell rang. I threw my half-eaten sandwich away and headed on to class. Like usual, I didn't pay any attention, but this time I really had something on my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about what those wranglers said. I felt so bad for the kids. I try not to call them tards, even if I can't think of anything other than "kids". They really had no control over what they did.

My next few classes flew by rather quickly. I was in math for my last period before I got out. Even if I was a little pissed he skipped the entire day, me and Steve were going to some party with Evie and Sandy since it was Friday.

My teacher was rambling about some quadratic formula we need to know. It made no sense at all. I always hear that you never use math in the real world, but really, where am I gonna use quadratic formula? Exactly. Nowhere.

She gave us a problem we needed to solve with it. I barely tried before I gave up. I set my pencil down and stared out the window. What a lovely day...

I snapped out of it when I saw someone was writing on my paper. I looked to my left- or was it right (I've got something I think they call dyslexia)- and saw one of the kids from lunch. He was the second one from lunch. He was a lot quieter than the other kid. I guess he wasn't as bad as the other. His wrangler grabbed his hand and the pencil, apologizing for the kid bothering me.

"No, it's fine. He was actually helpin'." I explained. He gave me a wary look, but released the kid's hand. He sat close by as the kid helped me out. I thought I'd never say it, but I actually get it. I tried a problem on my own and I got it right. I was actually proud of myself.

My moment of glory was gone when I saw some Socs snickering in the front of the classroom. I gave them the bird before focusing on the math; actually, I was more focusing on the guy helping me. Who knew he was smart?

"The-" He was chocking out.

"The what?" I asked nicely.

He pointed at the laughing Socs.

"Don't worry about it, buddy. Ignore them." I said, smiling the smile I was told melted hearts and broke others. I never really saw why they made a big deal about it.

"Hey, buddy, can I ask you somethin'?" I asked. He slowly nodded his head.

"Why do you have that daisy with you?"

He looked at me, ocean blue eyes filled with sadness.

"Mom said..." he trailed off, "... she'll bring them back when I'm in heaven. Cause God brings back all of the flowers you lost when you were alive."

My heart broke.

I could never imagine loosing my mom, or my dad. We sat there in a peaceful silence for a while.

The bell rang and everyone was racing out of the door. Normally I'm the first, but today I was taking my time. I was making sure the wrangler was being nice to the guy. After a few minutes, I left.

I met up with Ponyboy since the middle school got out when the high school did. Boy, he was a smart one. Maybe even a genius. The school was talkin' about him skippin' a grade. I felt a little jealous that I wasn't as smart as him, but I was more proud. Plus, we'd be in school together.

I met up with him and we started walking. He was going on about how he didn't need me to walk him home since he was almost fourteen. I smiled and gave him a noogie to which he fought back.

"But I want my baby to be safe when he's going to and from school!" I said, kissing his cheeks so I could embarrass him. It sure as hell worked.

We were walking for a while before the group of Socs from math class. I told Ponyboy to keep on walking while they were making fun of us. It wasn't a problem until they crossed the street and got in our faces. There were only three of them, so I was confident I could take them.

"What's wrong, grease? Got tired of the old tard, so you got a new one?" They blonde one asked. From the corner of my eye I saw that Pony was tensing up. I didn't want him fighting, so I tried walking away, but I was stopped.

"Woah, where you goin' with out your wranglers?" They all laughed. While they were laughin', I grabbed Pony and we walked a little faster. They didn't follow us, making me sigh in relief.

"What were they talkin' about, Soda?" He asked.

"You really wanna know?" He nodded his head.

"I sat next to a couple of the slow kids today. They're actually smarter than you think." I said.

"Wait, are they retarded or autistic?" He asked. Here we go with the terms he knows and I don't.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there's a difference. How did you know they were smarter?"

"One helped me with my math." I replied.

Ponyboy thought for a second. "Autistic kids are different than retarded kids. What else did you notice 'bout him?"

I thought back to when he was making that fries pattern. "He likes to arrange things. Like fries."

"I think he has asperger's, Soda."

"What? He was retarded, then autistic, now _"asperger's"? _What does he have?!" I asked.

"Aspergers _is_ autism. It's on the end of the autism spectrum. So in other words, he's smarter." He looked at me, smiling. "You're not as dumb as you think. You gave that kid a chance. And you saw what that did."

For once I wasn't going to argue about it. I'm just gonna take the compliment.

We walked home, greeting our family. I didn't tell mom, dad, or Darry about what happened today. The time passed by until it was almost time for Steve to get here. I was laying on my bed while Ponyboy was either drawing or writing. That kid's gonna be an author one day, I just know it.

"Hey, Pone," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Be nice to the slower kids." I said.

"I'm nice." He said.

"Not pickin' on and bein' nice are two different things." I heard Steve's horn honking. "Gotta go baby." I kissed the top of his head and almost left, but he stopped me.

"Yeah, honey?"

"What should I draw?"

I thought for a minute before the perfect idea hit me. "How about an angel giving a boy a daisy?"

He gave me a weird look before nodding. I said thanks and raced out the door, but not before I told my mom how much I loved her. I did the same for dad.

"You ready?" Steve asked. "Hey, what happened to you?" He asked. I guess I still wasn't over what happened today.

"You're not gonna believe this." I said. We climbed into the car and I explained everything. I didn't turn to see his face, but I knew he was shocked. Sure, he could admit himself that he was a jerk sometimes, but he wasn't that bad.

"Soda," he said, "Evie's sick and you know how Sandy flakes out a lot. Wanna hang somewhere else?" He asked.

I agreed. Today was a good day. My only regret?

I didn't ask the kid what his name was.

**A/N: Okay! I'm having trouble with my other Outsiders series, "There Ain't No Rest for the Wicked", so I've decided to write the next chapter when inspiration comes. This was loosely based off of my experience at lunch the other day. I thought it'd make a good story. I made it a Soda-centric one because since he thinks he's stupid, and I thought that out of all of the characters, he'd be affected the most. I got the word "Wranglers" from this story I read (it was messed up but funny... I'm going to hell when I die I just know it). Also, I really don't think autism and aspergers were known much in this time, but hey people put things out of historical context just for the heck of it, so why not? Thanks for reading! :D**

**Oh, and the daisy thing: 1) Someone I knew had a daisy thing with her mom and 2) I saw this fanfic I think was entitled "Balloons" and it pretty much had the same concept. So I give that author credit for the idea (I feel like I borderline stole it Lol)**


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